Even as Chennai deals with intense drought, there have been reports that the situation has gravely impacted the city’s food and beverage (F&B) industry. Certain sections of the media reported that a number smaller eateries have downed their shutters, owing to non-availability of water to wash utensils, or potable water to serve patrons.

Today, CNBC-TV18 has learned that the lack of usable water has also pinched the pockets of a number of restaurateurs in the city. Depleting water supply has forced restaurants, hotels and coffee shops to rely on private water tankers to supply water to their establishments. Restaurants say that tanker-laden supply of 12,000 litres of water, priced at Rs 3,000 a few months ago, has witnessed a near-three-fold increase in price — to Rs 8,000.

“We are even taking a hit on our margins when we procure mineral water bottles from our distributors," said M Ravi, chairman of Chennai-based Vasanta Bhavan chain of restaurants, “Before the water scarcity, a litre of packaged drinking water priced at Rs 20 was being procured from distributors at Rs 16. We are now buying that same bottle for Rs 18, and losing Rs 2 from our margin, in the process.”

The situation, experts say, is tailor-made for packaged drinking water distributors and suppliers of water cans to leverage. “There have been multiple issues when it comes to procurement of canned water across several restaurants in the city,” said restaurant consultant, Charlie Singh, “Initially, availability of tanker water was an issue, and it seems like the shortage is now spreading to canned water as well.” It comes as no surprise, then, that the shortage could well result in a spike in procurement costs that the restaurateur pays to the distributor.

However, not all restaurants are bearing the brunt of a distributor-driven spike in mineral water bottles. “Some of us have watertight buyer contracts, which will continue to hold good for the next year,” said a well-known Chennai-based restaurateur and proprietor of pubs and cafes, who did not want to be named. “This means that our distributors are not in a position to increase the price they sell to us, since the terms of the contract don’t permit them to do so,” the restaurateur added, “Most of this water isn’t packaged in Chennai, but comes from Southern Tamil Nadu, where the situation isn’t as dire. So, any hike in prices with water scarcity being used as a reason is not justified.”

Chennai has been reeling under severe drought for nearly two months, now. While the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) has decided to increase water supply from 450 MLD (million litres per day) to 525 MLD to Chennai’s homes, depleting reservoirs levels have continued to remain a cause of concern. On Tuesday, the CMWSSB reported that Chennai’s reservoir levels had depleted to just 17 million cubic feet, out of a total capacity of 11,257 million cubic feet. The board also said that the city’s Red Hills, Cholavaram and Chembarambakkam reservoirs had officially run dry.

First Published:Jul 12, 2019 5:25 PM IST